Seriously thoughtful Should I switch to Ubuntu, or stay with Windows XP?

[Gideon]

I don't think you need to be so combative. What Astra is saying is, on the face of it, true. Very few users can get away just making Ubuntu work. And don't be fooled by a live-cd as they often work better (and sometimes worse) than the real install.

Lots of hardware doesn't work 'by default' in Ubuntu, and a lot doesn't in XP either... but usually you can fix that pretty quickly in XP. Ubuntu might require you to do hunt down and then manually compile a driver yourself - for someone who isn't particularly tech savy this is a MUCH bigger burdon than "going to Canon's website." I had to do this to get my soundcard working.... I can absolutely edit the Windows registry and I found this monstrous. If you're one of those people whose wifi adapter isn't supported by default - it's REAL fun getting that to work. Nothing like trying to fix something without your internet working!

If you're using Ubuntu there is a very good chance you're going to be opening up gedit and having to tweak some things. Yes, it's a text file but it's also all jargon and technical. Some of it is obvous, most of it is not. Most people using Windows have never even had to see their registry. Because, despite what people complain about most the time if you add a piece of hardware to a Windows or Mac computer it WILL work (except very early in any given OS's lifespan, like when Vista first came out). You have a weird piece of hardware on Ubuntu and you can be in some real trouble. And sometimes not even WEIRD or rare hardware.

You may have the wonderful experience of not dealing with these things, but you're asking in general terms and she's responding in general terms. That is a VERY fair thing to say about Ubuntu - I've installed every version since 6 and I've had to move VERY far outside my comfort zone to make it work, every time. 9.04 was by far the best... but if I use Kubuntu the whole thing falls apart. And this is in no way uncommon.

Great if you're tech-savy enough to handle all this, I am and I still don't find it worthwhile (though attractive, but I don't mind paying for quality software), but most people are not.

[astra]

Originally Posted by Gideon

You may have the wonderful experience of not dealing with these things, but you're asking in general terms and she's responding in general terms.

He

[wodin]

All that being said, my original statement in post #2 of this thread stands!

Originally Posted by wodin

If you need to ask, you'd better stick with Windows. Linux is very capable but is very unfriendly.

[kovidgoyal]

It's really simple, if you want to talk to your computer, use Linux. If you are satisfied by communicating only via miming, use non-linux. Be aware that learning to talk is harder than learning to mime, but the rewards are exponentially greater.

[tompe]

Originally Posted by kovidgoyal

It's really simple, if you want to talk to your computer, use Linux. If you are satisfied by communicating only via miming, use non-linux. Be aware that learning to talk is harder than learning to mime, but the rewards are exponentially greater.

And if you learn to talk to your computer first it is ridiculous hard to learn to mime.

Recently I was going to help a friend to mime the command to move to a new computer but seemed to fail to mime over the address book to the new computer. Also I did a mime mistake when trying to archeive old mails...

[astra]

Originally Posted by kovidgoyal

It's really simple, if you want to talk to your computer, use Linux. If you are satisfied by communicating only via miming, use non-linux. Be aware that learning to talk is harder than learning to mime, but the rewards are exponentially greater.

Absolutely agree with this statement but I would like to add:
Most people don't need to talk to computer. Miming does more than enough and investing time in learning to talk is not worth while for them. Unless you are making money on it, or it is your hobby then miming is the way to go.
Now, the question is who is the person who asked the question and why he considers of swapping OSs.

[mores]

<--- Look at my Avatar ... Get A Mac.



Seriously, if you're a fan of Open Source, go with ubuntu.
If you want to stop fiddling around with your system and just use it to get things done, get a mac.

[markm]

The question you need to answer is whether or not you can live without MS-Windows applications, such as Word, Excel, PowerPoint, PhotoShop, Dreamweaver, etc. While there are equivalent apps for Linux they are not 100% compatible in terms of user interface or file compatibility. If you are not a top power-user of these apps and don't need to exchange ready-to-run data with others, this might not be a concern.

Aside from that, Linux does require a bit more skill and effort to setup and maintain.

[frabjous]

Thanks to Gideon for his wonderful answer. I wasn't trying to be combative with astra -- I was just looking for a fuller explanation. What is it in particular that he found unfriendly, and did he have first-hand experience with it? Gideon's answer makes it much more clear.

Originally Posted by markm

The question you need to answer is whether or not you can live without MS-Windows applications, such as Word, Excel, PowerPoint, PhotoShop, Dreamweaver, etc.

I already do. They're way too expensive to constantly upgrade, so I've been using OpenOffice for awhile now when I do need to use something similar, though by and large, as I mentioned, I use LaTeX not Writer for "serious" word processing projects.

Miming does more than enough and investing time in learning to talk is not worth while for them. Unless you are making money on it, or it is your hobby then miming is the way to go.

f you want to stop fiddling around with your system and just use it to get things done, get a mac.

Well, I admit I actually do enjoy "fiddling around" with my system. It is kind of a hobby, and learning how to do some more sophisticated things is fun too. I do occasionally have to get things done too (grumble grumble if I have to), of course. I want that to be possible.

Lately though it's more of a philosophical preference for open source, combined with lack of funds to constantly upgrade stuff that isn't, that's pushing me towards the open source Linux systems.

[Andybaby]

well try out the windows 7 RC, its free, it works fully till march 2010, and, like a mac, or xp sp2+ or vista sp1+, It just works.

[InlawBiker]

I'm late to this party but ...

I'm a former Unix admin and I use Ubuntu on my home PC because I like it and enjoy learning the intricacies of using it. There's something new to learn every day if you go looking for opportunities. Yet it's very easy to use and doesn't break if you stick to vanilla programs and don't try anything exotic.

My laptop came with Vista. I gave it an honest shot but I hated it and went back to XP. Windows XP is an excellent product and I dual-boot to it when I need it. For instance I love Office 2007. I also use iTunes and some specific things I need that exist only on Windows.

Anyway you've discovered that you can try it without risk and it's FREE after all, so no worries. I hope you like Ubuntu. I've been using it for about 2 years now. Never before has it been really viable on the desktop but finally I think it's just about there.

Greg.

[djgreedo]

If you stay with Windows, upgrade to Windows Vista. Don't believe the nonsense some people spread about Vista. It's incredibly stable now that nVidia have sorted out their graphics drivers and now that SP1 has ironed out any problems with the actual OS. Or maybe wait for Windows 7. It's not yet as stable as Vista (I'm running 7 and it's crashed at least twice this week, which to me is simply not good enough).

Vista has some great features, such as editing metadata within Windows Explorer, and it's an overall upgrade from XP. I cringe whenever I log into my XP computer at work...

But at the end of the day just work out what you want to use the computer for and go from there. Windows has the advantages of games and MS Office. Linux is free. Chances are you do something with that computer that you can't do without Windows, but there are options on Linux for most things.

[djgreedo]

Originally Posted by Moejoe

I'd have to say as a Hater of Vista, a tolerator of XP and a lover of Ubuntu and ex-lover of the Mac, that Windows 7 is doing everything right at the moment. Rock solid, fast on even mediocre systems, well-thought out system defaults, good new 'dock-like' bar at the bottom. I haven't found anything yet that irked me like it did with Vista.

What about Vista did you not like? Windows 7 is really just Vista SP2 with a fresh coat of paint. On the 4 computers I have run Windows 7 on it is less stable than Vista (still much more stable than XP, but Vista SP1 is basically impossible to crash unless you try very hard to do so).

Windows 7 isn't more than a fraction faster than Vista according to my usage and some recent online benchmarks (i.e. all benchmarks fall below the threshold deemed noticable by users).

All the love Windows 7 is getting confuses me...because it really is just Vista with some tweaks. Reminds me of the Microsoft ads of people who didn't like Vista using Vista without being told it's Vista and loving it...

The new taskbar is odd...I'm still not sure if I like it. It may depend on how 3rd party developers code their programs to use it. At the moment any app with multiple windows just plain sucks for me.

[djgreedo]

Originally Posted by frabjous

Lately though it's more of a philosophical preference for open source, combined with lack of funds to constantly upgrade stuff that isn't, that's pushing me towards the open source Linux systems.

FWIW (and I only add this because the issue is often overlooked in Windows vs Linux discussions) there is a ton of open-source software available for Windows. Many Linux advocates try to imply that all Windows software is overpriced/expensive. Off the top of my head I only run two commercial applications on my computers - MS Office being one of them. I could get equivalents for both for free, but I have specific needs that the commercial apps satisfy. And games of course.

Windows also has a lot of shareware, etc, and has the advantage of commercial software for when the open source stuff isn't good enough (e.g. I could not run a computer without MS Word or that didn't enable me to run all my games).

Of course, the OS itself is not open source, but I don't see that as a disadvantage.

As far as dual booting goes (someone suggested it), I really recommend against it. What's the point of running two separate operating systems. Just use 1 OS that does everything you need. And if the OS you're running doesn't do everything you need, you're not running Windows, so install Windows.

[roger64]

your average Joe is that low?

Because, you do not know, but Ubuntu is really very friendly now...